The parents of Reeva Steenkamp, the South African model whose slaying two weeks ago led to a murder charge against her boyfriend Oscar Pistorius, gave their first televised interview Sunday with a tearful plea for the world-famous Paralympian to come clean about what really happened at his home on Valentine's Day.
"It's only Oscar [and] Reeva that know the true story, and all I want is that he must just come out with the honest truth," Barry Steenkamp told the "Cart Blanche" television program Sunday on the South African channel MNet.
Pistorius, 26, is accused of premeditated murder in the Feb. 14 shooting of Reeva Steenkamp, 29, at his South African home. Prosecutors say the two got into a heated argument, and Pistorius fired four shots through the closed bathroom door at his cowering girlfriend.
Pistorius claims the whole thing was a tragic mistake that happened when he misidentified Steenkamp as an intruder.
Barry Steenkamp told the Afrikaans-language Beeld newspaper Saturday that Pistorius will have to "live with his conscience" and will "suffer" if his story that he shot Steenkamp because he believed she was an intruder is false.
Pistorius posted bail and left jail Friday, following a four-day bail hearing. The conditions of his bail state that he must hand over his firearms and his two South African passports, avoid his home and all witnesses in the case, report to a police station twice a week, and abstain from drinking alcohol until his next court appearance scheduled for June 4.
The story took an ironic turn when news broke Sunday that
Pistorius' older brother Carl is being charged with culpable homicide after the 2008 death of a woman whose motorcycle collided with his car.
Pistorius' amazing struggle against adversity warmed the hearts of the world during the 2012 London Olympics when he became the first double amputee to compete against able-bodied runners at the Olympics. He reached the semifinals of the 400-meter race and took home a silver medal for South Africa. His carbon-fiber prosthetic blades earned him the nickname "Blade Runner."
Related stories:
Grief-Stricken Family Talks About Pistorius
Model Reeva Steenkamp: FYI on Slain Girlfriend of Oscar Pistorius
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